Sleeping At Last
by Blue Seidr
Summary: Title says it all. The brothers know they can always lean on one another.


**I was trolling for pictures on , and I came across one called _Sleeping at Last_****by poisonouspeach. In the comments, they expressed the wish for someone to write a story for it. Here is that story. Check out the pic, it's so cute, and enjoy!**

Grateful to be back from patrol and getting off his weary feet, Leo stumbled into his room and unceremoniously flopped face-first onto his bed. He groaned in relief as the weight of his own body was taken off the bottom of his feet and was instead carried by his mattress.

How long had it been since he had gotten a good nights sleep? A week? Two? Leo's cloudy mind, heavy with exhaustion, couldn't remember. He had been training harder and longer ever since their battle with the Shredder, and lately . . . He had been having nightmares. Horrible, terrifying nightmares that woke him from his peaceful slumber after only a couple of hours. Wide awake and with nothing else to do, Leo would meditate or train, hours before the sun began to rise. Add his lack of sleep, the extra training, extra patrols, and dealing with his brothers and their antics 24/7 all together, and you get one tired turtle. The only good thing he could say was that so far the Foot and the Kraang had been quiet, meaning he hadn't had to fight any major battles. But even that was a bad sign in disguise, because usually when this happened, it turned out to be the calm before the storm.

Leo felt like he could just lie there forever, and pray that his mind would take pity on him and let him sleep in his bed for a full night this once. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. For Leo had forgotten one thing.

"Leo! It's movie night! You promised to be here, remember?" Mikey called, excitement clear in his voice. Leo groaned. Movie night. Ugh, how could he have forgotten? Every Saturday night, if all was well, the brothers would get together and have a movie night. Leo had promised he would spend time with his brothers on movie nights, and that happened to be tonight. Leo would give any thing to not have to go and just sleep, but a promise was a promise, and Leonardo Hamato did not go back on his promises.

"Coming Mikey!" He shouted. He trudged back up onto his feet, rubbed his eyes and made an effort to stand up straight and look alert, and walked to the the TV room. His brothers were waiting for him, seated in a semicircle around the TV.

"C'mon Leo, the movies about to start!" Mikey cheered.

Leo managed a weary smile, and sat down next to Raph, who had Spike curled up next to his feet. "What're we watching?" He whispered.

"Iron Man 2. It was Donnie's turn to pick." Raph whispered back. Leo smiled faintly. Iron Man was Donnie's favorite superhero, one who used brains and his wits instead of force. Iron Man was alright, Leo thought. He sure was funny, but to him, Captain America was the best superhero.

Leo did his best to watch the movie all the way through, he really did. He tried to get into the movie and ignore his fatigue long enough to finish the movie. But it was not meant to be. About halfway through, Leo's eyelids felt very heavy, and he suddenly felt like he was made of jelly. Insubstantial and unable to support himself.

_I'll just close my eyes for one second, maybe two. Then I'll finish the movie._ With that resolve in mind, Leo closes his eyes for a second. That second was all he needed to fall asleep.

* * *

Raph was watching the movie, only halfway paying attention, when he suddenly felt something on his shoulder. He looked over and, to his great surprise, saw Leo resting his head on his shoulder.

"Leo, what are -" he began to say, but then cut himself off when he saw the look on Leo's face. His brother was asleep, and frankly looked exhausted. Raph thought back to earlier that day, and remembered thinking that Leo looked dead on his feet. The poor turtle must have been battling fatigue all day.

Raph stared at his brother, then sighed and rolled his eyes. Fine. Leo could stay. As long as he didn't start to drool on him.

He tried to turn back to the movie, but the constant pressure of his brother's head on his shoulder made that hard, and something about Leo kept drawing Raph's eyes back to his face. Eventually, he realized what it was. Leo had black rings under his eyes, suggesting that Leo hadn't been sleeping well for quite a while. Raph thought back, and remembered that Leo had always been in the dojo when Raph had gotten up for training, a burning candle showing that he had been there for quite awhile. Leo had been working himself to death, it dawned on him. Leo had been training non-stop, hardly ever stopping to any thing else besides eating or using the bathroom. When was the last time Raph had seen Leo just relaxing on the couch? It shamed him he couldn't remember.

Raph glance at his brothers sleeping form one more time, now slumped completely on Raph. With his free arm, Raph reached behind him and grabbed a blanket off the couch. Gently, careful not to wake him, Raph draped the blanket over Leo. If it was possible, Leo relaxed even more in his sleep, shifting to a more comfortable position against Raph. Raph couldn't completely hid the smile that came over him.

* * *

Around 45 minutes later . . .

"That was an awesome movie!" Surprisingly, it was Donnie who cheered this.

"I know! I loved how - " Mikey started to yabber.

"Keep it down you guys!" Raph hissed.

"What? Why?" Donnie asked. He and Mikey looked over to Raph, and their question was answered without Raph having to say a thing. Leo's cheek was pressed hard against Raph's shoulder, and his hand had come up and grabbed the edge of the blanket sometime in his sleep, pulling it tight around himself. Unable to move without waking him, Raph simply sat crosslegged, trying to get as comfortable as possible.

"Awwwww . . ." Mikey cooked softly. Raph growled at him, but Mikey just grinned.

"When did that happen?" Donnie asked.

"About halfway through the movie. Fearless is exhausted and probably has been for a while. He's always up before the crack of dawn and always the last to go to sleep."

Donnie frowned. "That's not healthy. We all need to sleep."

"Well you can tell him that when he wakes up, because you aren't bothering him until then." Raph said firmly. Donnie and Mikey nodded, and with huge grins on their faces turned off the set and went to bed. Raph stared at his big brother and sighed.

"The things I do for you, Fearless." Raph sighed. He pulled a couple of beanbags to him and built a small pile to lean against without disturbing Leo.

"Night bro."

* * *

Leo had no nightmares that night, not with Raph the protector watching over him for once, instead of the other way around. Master Splinter came through a couple hours after the movie and, upon seeing both of his oldest sons asleep, one leaning on the other, smiled fondly and draped another blanket over them both.

"Oyasuminasai, my sons."

**You all know the drill. Review, tell me what you think. ****Check out the picture and have a good one!**


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